Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has made it clear his team’s stagnant offense must change and improve in 2011, and that status quo will not be acceptable.

“I want an aggressive, creative (offense), not playing just to keep it close,” Ross said last week. “To continue to do the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.”

In the coming days (or weeks), we will see if Tony Sparano and Jeff Ireland are insane.

The two have big decisions to make regarding the Dolphins’ offense, which finished 30th in points scored in 2010 (17.06 ppg) and 31st in offensive touchdowns (26). They have been told by Ross to re-create “the days of Dan Marino” on offense, and they must find a new offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and perhaps an entirely new offensive scheme to keep their owner happy.

But Ross isn’t interviewing the coaches. It’s up to Ireland and Sparano to find a new coaching staff. And their decisions will reveal their true motivations – are they more concerned with radically changing the offense, or do they see this as a “fixer-upper,” which needs tweaking more than wholesale changes?

Ireland and Sparano are currently in the middle of the interview process, having spoken to at least five candidates (and likely more) about their two vacancies. Three of the known candidates have little connection to the Dolphins’ duo – Chargers assistant head coach Rob Chudzinski, former Cleveland offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and former Minnesota head coach Brad Childress.

In the case of Childress – who is interviewing with the Rams for the same position early this week – he not only has little connection with the Dolphins, but his West Coast offense would be a radical change for Miami. Chudzinski, a former offensive coordinator in Cleveland and long-time Miami Hurricane, is also a top candidate in Carolina, where his friend from San Diego, former Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, is the new head coach.

But two of the candidates are quite familiar to Ireland and Sparano – Cowboys tight ends coach John Garrett, who worked with Sparano and Ireland in Dallas in 2007, and former Cleveland Browns head coach Chris Palmer, who happens to be Sparano’s mentor and gave him his big breaks at the college and NFL level over the past three decades. A third candidate – Daboll – doesn’t have a direct connection to the Dolphins’ bosses, but he’s a disciple of Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini, and comes from the same Northeast coaching tree as Sparano.

Garrett took his name out of the running over the weekend, opting instead to remain with Dallas, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. But Palmer, 61, very much is in the mix. And if the Dolphins do hire him for one of the vacancies, or any other coaches with a direct tie to Ireland and Sparano, it will be a signal that the Dolphins’ bosses are more concerned with surrounding themselves with familiar faces than radically changing the offense.

Palmer, most recently the head coach of the UFL’s Hartford Colonels, has shaped Sparano’s philosophies and coaching mindset more than anyone. Palmer employed Sparano’s son on his staff in Hartford. Palmer, from Brewster, N.Y, represents a tough, old-school approach to football.

Which is exactly what Ross doesn’t want.

“This isn’t the North, where you want to just take it 4 yards and a cloud of dust,” Ross said.

Though Sparano received a two-year contract extension through the 2013 season, there’s little doubt that he is still on the hot seat for 2011. His team must produce an exciting offense and compete for a playoff spot, or else.

So it’s hard to blame Sparano and Ireland for looking at Palmer and other familiar faces to fill their vacancies. Hiring someone unfamiliar, like Childress or Chudzinski, could be disastrous. Sparano doesn’t know if their personalities will mesh with the rest of the staff, or if the team can adapt to a new playbook and terminology. Palmer is a known quantity, and Sparano wouldn’t have to worry about any personality conflicts with him.

And the looming labor crisis makes it even more tempting for Sparano and Ireland to hire a familiar face. The Dolphins don’t know when they will next see their players – it could be June, it could be August, it could last into the 2011 season. The players may have very little preparation time in the preseason, and trying to learn a completely new playbook could be an impossible task.

At the same time, the status quo won’t suffice in Miami. If Sparano and Ireland want to keep their jobs for the long-term, they must adapt both their playbook and their tendencies — opening up the passing game and showing more creativity on third downs.

Tough decisions ahead for the Dolphins’ duo, no question. And the results should be a good measure of their sanity.